by Alison Aimes
“I am yours, Grif. Always. No matter what comes next. Our bond is forever.” She held him tighter. “Now, tell me what is wrong.”
“Bain came back.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and held her tighter. “Maddox and Nash had a run-in with the ghost, though he got away.”
“Are you they okay?”
“Bruised egos, and even more actual bruises, but they managed to confirm that the ghost was indeed the one who left us the spears. They found even more by his hideout. Whoever he is, he’s very good at making weapons. They also confirmed he was human, not pack.”
Nayla nodded without surprise. She’d known it.
“Malin did not like hearing the news. He kept right on railing, insisting there was some kind of connection between you and the ghost, demanding we use you for a trade. He and I had words. He stepped outside to cool off, but never came back. I’m concerned he intends to take you on his own.”
Nerves whispered through her. What had seemed a good idea a little while ago did not seem as wise now. Especially with Grif’s arm a tight band around her, as if he held onto her for his survival as much as her own.
“I’m not sure what the hells is going on,” he continued, “but we’re gathering everyone in the main tent, and I’m glued to your side until we figure it out.”
A rustle at the tent flap.
Grif shoved her behind him, ax raised. Lana crowded closer.
“Cam,” his voice was rough with relief, and admonishment, “all crew are to gather in the tent erected for the missing females. We’re headed there now to make final preparations. Until Malin is found, I don’t want anyone out alone.”
She nodded, her dark eyes worried, her arms clasped behind her back, her body curled in on itself. “I know. I’m sorry. I just… I went to check on Sharluff, and he’s gone, too.”
“No!” Nayla’s heart contracted.
Strong arms held her tighter. “It could be a trap. We need to stay smart, Nayla.”
She nodded. “No unnecessary risks. I understand. I will not do that to you again.” Raising to her tiptoes, she cradled his jaw in her hands. “I love you.”
His gaze caught fire. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Grif. Every part of you, the strong and the broken, the good and the monster. I will always give you what you need.”
Lana sighed. “You two give me hope. Maybe it’s not so much where you start out, but where you go from there that matters most. Plus, I’m beginning to think gentle may be overrated.”
Nayla was too busy staring up at Grif to tell her new friend she’d finally gotten it right.
Especially when he pressed his forehead to hers and the power and heat of him shimmered through her, making her burn. “There is nothing in this universe more precious to me, Nayla. You are my home and my heart.” He cleared his throat. “Once this is over, I want to give you everything, wild thing. A home, a family, even more little Sharluffs, if that’s what you want.”
Joy slammed through her. All she’d ever wanted. Finally.
“W-what are you doing?” The shock in Lana’s voice jerked Nayla from her state of bliss. She started to turn, but it was too late.
The tip of something golden slammed down on Grif’s head. He crumpled.
Nayla was left staring into the eyes of madness.
45
Grif woke with a start.
He was in the dirt. Malin loomed above.
With a roar, Grif launched himself upward. “Where is she?”
The other male toppled back, slamming into the ground, the forearm across his throat making his words come out in a hiss. “Get…off.”
Grif pressed harder.
“Grif, calm down.” The sharp crack of Lana’s voice penetrated his rage. “Malin is not the danger. It’s Cam.”
“Cam?” He released his hold and turned.
Lana was tied in the corner. A gag rested on her chin, red marks around her mouth and cheeks, her legs and wrists lashed with sagging ties she’d almost made her way out of.
“Hells.” Shoving off his teammate, he hurried to help her.
Malin was right on his heels.
“Are you hurt? Did Cam really do this to you? Is your head okay?” His teammate’s questions to the poor female came so fast, there was no time for her to answer even a single one. “I was down by the river edge near Sharluff’s pen when Cam came by. She said she was looking for you. That you’d gone missing. I, ah, got worried, dropped my guard, and she must have zapped me. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Give her a sec.” Grif really did feel sorry for the male. Especially now that he knew exactly how crazy love could make a person behave.
At the thought of Nayla, panic threatened to drag him down. He fought it. If ever there was a time for control, it was now. “What happened here?”
Lana rubbed at her wrists. “One moment Cam was just standing there watching you, like me. The next, she pulled something from behind her back. She moved so fast.” Lana shook her head, tears gathering. “Sh-she knocked you out. Just a single tap from the glowing spear. I thought for sure you were dead. Nayla screamed and attacked.”
Grif’s pulse thrummed with pride and fury.
“Sh-she tried to protect you and me. But Cam was ready for her. She…” Lana’s voice broke, “she hit her too.”
Grif was glad he was already on his knees. Nayla was so much smaller.
Malin asked the question he couldn’t. “Was she okay?”
“I don’t know. She was still breathing, but she didn’t move.”
Thank the goddess they had not figured out how to get the stones working at full capacity. It had likely saved her life.
“I-I was so afraid.” Lana’s terrified voice jerked Grif from his thoughts. “Cam said she would kill me. Or she would tie me up and gag me if I didn’t fight.” She sobbed. “I-I froze.”
“Good” barked Malin.
“No.” Pain darkened Lana’s gaze. “I froze. Like always.” Shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth. Grif stepped aside so Malin could step in. “I-I shouldn’t have just let Cam take her.”
Malin looked uncertain about what to do next. Grif gave him a chin nudge in her direction.
When Malin’s mouth opened and no words came out, Grif took over. “You kept yourself alive. You gave us critical info.” He assured her. “That is a fight in itself.”
Her tears spilled over. “You are so nice to me, even now. I should have believed Nayla. She knew her heart, and she knew you loved her.”
Grif chest squeezed so tight it was hard to breathe. “Love her.” There was no fucking past tense. “She’s strong and smart. She’ll stay alive until we get there.”
The recriminations, the regrets. His sister’s flat, empty eyes. They all threatened to drag him down. Splinter his focus. He refused to let them.
Instead, he drew on every ounce of control, every bit of his will, and let the monster inside him claw its way to the top.
He’d never been happier to be the ruthless bastard he was.
He might not have known it, but this was what he’d been training for his whole life. This was what gave his father’s beatings and his lessons meaning.
Except, thanks to Nayla, he also understood, in a way he hadn’t before, exactly what it would take to bring her home. Not just through his will, but through trust, teamwork, and love.
He knew exactly how to protect what was his. “Gather everyone. I’ve got a new plan. Together, we’re bringing Nayla and the missing females home.”
“Damn right.” Malin unsheathed his ax.
Grif might never love the male, but he definitely disliked him a little less.
“Did Cam tell you anything more?” He took his last chance to gather any intel he could.
Lana nodded. “She said she was done waiting. That it was past time for a reckoning. I-I don’t understand why she would just go off like this. She’d always been so quiet and calm.”
Grif had
a pretty good idea.
46
Nayla woke with a vicious headache, the sound of Sharluff’s soft, worried growls in the backdrop.
Draped over her pet’s back, her wrists tied, it was almost as if she’d gone full circle. Except this time, the Other holding her captive was a lot smaller, though just as deadly.
Through slitted eyelids, she saw Cam holding Sharluff’s lead as her pet unknowingly guided them into danger. The towering Gazi-teno plants that lined the path a clear indicator they were almost to the pack village.
Sharluff had done what he always did when she was hurt. Bring her home.
Ice slid down her spine.
No wonder the female had been interested in getting comfortable with Sharluff. It had suited her plan.
“I know you’re awake.”
Nayla startled.
“I heard your breathing change.” Cam didn’t turn around or even pause. “People don’t think I notice such things, but I do.”
“If you enter the village like this, you’ll be killed or become another captive.” Nayla did not bother with pleasantries. They were too close to the point of no return. Instead, she got to work on the ties at her wrists. Cam was nowhere as good with knots as she or Grif.
“Talg hates all Others,” she added. “He will not bargain with you. You will die. Then, others will, too. Your friend Luna will die. Grif and the crew, too.”
“I’m counting on it. Grif was trying to give you no bloodshed. Now there’ll be no choice.”
“You want war?” Shock rippled through Nayla. She’d thought the other female was just trying to save her friends and misunderstood the consequences of her actions.
“Yes! That is exactly what I want. Total annihilation. Every sin wiped clean.” Her captor gripped the harness so tight it shook in her hold. “I thought for sure you’d remember. Call me out. But you never did.”
Cam’s words were not what Nayla had expected.
“Strangely,” continued Cam, “that only made me hate you more. And myself. I’d done this terrible thing and you didn’t even realize it. But Luna would—and she’d tell.”
Another bolt of surprise, followed by a sliver of understanding. “You were one who broke the spear.”
“And freed Sharluff and frayed the rope that snapped.”
“You wanted to delay rescue.”
“Before. Then, when you almost died, I realized delaying would not be enough.”
“Why? A-are you working with the ghost?”
Cam’s frown lightened. “I don’t know who that is or what they want, but they did me a great favor leaving the spears where anyone from our crew could find them. Too trusting, in my opinion, but then again, most people refuse to see how truly evil we all are.”
“That not true.” Her New English was slipping again, her nerves making it hard to think straight.
A long pause. So long that Nayla wasn’t certain Cam would speak again. But then she said, “You don’t remember but you chose me that rotation. “
“At 223’s camp?”
“Yes.”
All Others had looked alike to her at that point. She hadn’t ever made the connection before. Even now, she didn’t remember.
“I held Luna when her children were born.” Cam was lost in her own world. “Luna held me when mine died. Without her, I would have gone insane. She was my best friend. I thought…I thought I’d do anything for her and her family. I thought I was so much better than the evil animals that had been raping and beating us.” She peered up at Nayla, her eyes flat and hard. “In a single moment, you tore that from me. You showed me just what I was made of.”
“H-how?”
“You pointed that finger in my direction and I pushed the person I loved most in front of me…I sent her in my place.” Her lips pressed tight, agony in her stare. “I loved her. Turns out I loved myself more.”
Nayla’s guilt battered at her, its claws familiar and vicious, but she refused to let them sink so deep she forgot that was not all that defined her. That way was madness. That way was Cam’s path.
Grif deserved better than someone who could not live with the pain of her mistakes. Who could not see herself as worthy and strong, not only in spite of but because of the path her life had taken.
“You were afraid.” She tried to reach Cam. “That not your fault. We all do things we are not proud of. I am so sorry I made you make that choice. I was wrong. Very wrong. But this is not the way to fix.”
“I disagree.”
There would be no reaching her. Jacking her body upward, Nayla uttered a series of sharp clicks and took matters into her own hands.
Sharluff halted. He moved so quickly from movement to stillness, her body smacked his neck and then rolled back down. Still, she was more than grateful. She’d trained him well.
“No!” Cam tugged on the lead. “We cannot stop now.”
Sharluff whinnied, but did not move.
Cam whirled to stare down at her. “Command him to move or you die.”
“Kill me here and you’ll lose your bargaining chip.”
With a shout of rage, Cam lurched forward and yanked harder at the harness. “Come on, you beast. Move!”
Sharluff reared back, his beak rising into the air in a clear show of protest, but he remained where he was.
“He won’t go,” she told Cam. The ties at her wrist were loosening. The more she twisted and pulled, the more give there was. Soon, she’d be free. She just needed time. Time to escape the restraints. Time for Grif to come for her.
Because she knew he would.
“Make him move.” Cam drew the whalh spear from the harness latched to Sharluff’s side. The same one she’d used to knock Grif out. “Do it or I’ll use this on him. He’ll suffer.”
“Luna will forgive you.” Nayla tried to reach Cam. “So will the others.”
“I don’t deserve forgiveness. None of us do.”
That was the heart of it. Cam wanted to die, and she wanted to take them all down with her.
“I understand. I do.” Heart breaking for the female, Nayla slipped one wrist free of the ropes. “I spent a long time letting myself be hurt without fighting back. Even longer, punishing myself for that.”
There was a time when it had been all she believed she deserved. Until a fierce, savage Other had shown her differently.
“Both are a waste,” she continued. “You don’t have to let the monsters win. You can be more merciful with yourself than they ever were to you.”
The silence stretched.
Nayla slipped her other wrist free, but kept them at her back. She would only have one chance to take the female by surprise if her words didn’t penetrate.
“I don’t want mercy.” Cam said at last, dashing Nayla’s last hope. “I just want it to end.” She poked the spear in Sharluff’s direction. “Now, enough talking. Command the beast to walk or watch him die and then I’ll drag you there myself—”
“Naja faresh lang!” No intruders on Pack land. The growled shout came from behind one of the large twisted plants that lined the pathway, cutting short the rest of Cam’s words.
Four male hunters emerged. Two blocked the path, cutting off retreat. Two more loomed in front. Their fangs flashed as their skin flared red and black and their spears glowed.
Sharluff brayed in happiness, the familiar scents and sounds proof he was home.
“Naja.” Nayla spoke fast, pushing herself upward and launching herself off Sharluff. If she was to have any chance of saving Cam—
The other female charged, slamming the glowing whalh spear into the closest guard’s belly. He screamed, twitching as he folded.
Nayla could only watch in horror.
With a howl, the second guard grabbed Cam and, using his own spear, knocked the weapon from her hand. Another seized her from behind. His tusks ripped into her throat before she could utter a single word.
Blood spurted.
Nayla’s stomach seized.
Cam’s
anguished eyes fluttered shut.
No mercy. Just as she’d wanted.
The guard tossed her body to the dirt.
Bile burned at the back of Nayla’s throat, her heart heavy, her skin chilled.
Nayla could only hope the female found peace in the Void, her guilt and shame lifted. Not everyone was strong enough to survive the wounds of their past and find a way beyond.
“Kijan.” The shout to kill her echoed in Nayla’s ears.
“Naja! Tameth ale a Talg.” No. Take me to Talg. She skittered back, pressing into Sharluff’s solid bulk.
The guards froze.
She did not know if it was the use of their language, the mention of their leader’s name, or Sharluff’s low growls, but some of the bloodlust cleared from their gazes.
They studied her as she snarled back at them. Their scowls deepened as they remarked on her small fangs and color, their uncertainty obvious, the whispers of Gazi buzzing between them like an unanswered question.
Whereas she recognized them easily. Three prominent hunters in their prime. They had never spoken to her, though she’d seen them swaggering around the village often enough.
It was no surprise they were less sure about her identity. None but Talg and Ramm had seen her without her anazi since she was a child. Most rotations, these hunters had passed her by as if she was part of the scenery.
Now, she had their full attention.
At one time, that was all she’d coveted. Now it was the last thing she wanted.
She landed on the hard dirt. Her palms caught her just before her face hit the ground, the covering they’d wrapped her in absorbing the worst of the impact. She yanked it off, and found herself in the middle of the pack gathering circle, the setting suns casting everything in a soft glow.
Cam’s lifeless body rested beside her.
Sharluff had been easily subdued, as well. One lavrish treat and a few grunted commands from the guards and her pet had followed them happily. They’d penned him with the others of his kind, out of sight.
She didn’t blame Sharluff. Like all pack creatures, he responded to the inherent dominance of a stronger force. She’d been like that once. Now, there was only one male whose commands she willingly followed.